Lubricant



Patented June 9, 1942 LUBRICANT George E. Merkle, Glen Ridge, N. J., assignorto Lubriplate Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York No Drawing. Application April 9, 1940,

Serial No. 328,696

2 Claims.

The invention relates to lubricants of the kind disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 2,043,638, which comprises an oily base having finely divided zinc oxide dispersed in it, being a lubricant of superior quality, and this invention consists in the discovery I have made that finely divided titanium dioxide, similarly dispersed in an oily base and within certain particular limits as herein explained, improves the lubricating properties of the base so as to furnish a lubricant generally superior or at least equal to that of the above patent, being useful and desirable in many relations. n

I have found that as little as 2 by weight of titanium dioxide, finely divided and well dispersed in an oily base such as the usual mixtures of refined cylinder stock, miner-a1 oils, animal fats, etc., usually containing some sulfur, produces an appreciable improvement in the lubricating quality of the oily base taken alone, while a larger addition of about 5% produces an improvement approximating 35% as compared to the base alone, that is, without such additions. For example in a carefully conducted comparison an oily base composed of refined cylinder stock and lead naphthenate resulted in wear of a test block to the extent of 4.25 units, whereas a compound of the same base containing 5% titanium dioxide resulted in wear to the extent only of 2.75 units, under exactly identical conditions. The extent of improvement accomplished depends somewhat on the nature of the bases, and with bases of poorer lubricating qualities even larger gains have been recorded, On the other hand, additions of titanium dioxide as large as and above produce negative or opposite results,

definitely and progressively increasing the wearof the bearing surfaces 'under all conditions. Consistently large gains accrue from the use of about 5%, and lubricants with this addition,

function in the same way as that of the patent, which is to say, appear to produce initially a slight abrasive action resulting in a high polish of the surfaces after which the wear proceeds very slowly. t

An'example of the invention, as a fluid gear lubricant, is shown by the following formula:

Per cent Refined cylinder stock Lead naphthenate 10 Titanium dioxide; 5

.It will be understood that the oily base is compounded with reference to the general characteristics required of the product and that, provided the beneficial action of the oxide is preserved as by keeping the content of that ingredientwithin the limits above specified, the other ingredients are subject to variation in character or quantity to adapt the lubricant to the nature of the work either as a liquid or a grease.

An illustrative formula for a pressure-density grease is as follows:

' Per cent Mineral lubricating oil 85-83 Fats saponified by Ca(OH)z to a neutral I soap I 10 -12 Titanium dioxide a 5 

